American Pleads Guilty of Assisting Mumbai Terrorist Attack

An Indian paramilitary soldier walks past a mural depicting the Mumbai 2008 terror attacks at the DefExpo 2010 in New Delhi on February 17. An American pleaded guilty in India of involvement in the attacks. (Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images)

A Chicago resident admitted that he scouted out a location in Mumbai, India, for the terrorist attack in 2008 that killed 166 people after a three-day siege and hostage taking.

David Coleman Headley, 49, pleaded guilty on 12 counts and could face up to life in prison. Under the current deal, Headley will not be executed, according to a report by Associated Press. Headley admitted that he made surveillance videos and gathered information prior to the attack.

Headley said that he was in contact with “elders” in the al-Qaeda’s network. He also met a terrorist leader in May 2009 in western Pakistan who told him that he could provide him with resources to attack the Jyllands Posten newspaper in Denmark, which never happened.